Regular handball, not to be confused with European team handball, is a dynamic game in which players hit a small rubber ball against a wall with their hands. A brief encyclopedia description of game is sufficient here. Each player tries to hit ball, in conformance with rules, and in such a way, that opposing player cannot return ball properly to wall. Singles and doubles play can be on one-wall, three-wall, or four wall court, with each type court having at least a vertical front wall and a horizontal players area. In general, with reference to a one-wall court, to start a regular handball game, the ball is served from a point at a prescribed distance back from wall by hitting it with the hand on the first bounce after it has been dropped on court floor. The ball must then strike front wall and then rebound to the prescribed horizontal players area to be valid and in play. After proper serve, opposing player must return ball to wall by hit with hand before ball bounces twice on court floor in players area. Play continues after a proper return with alternating hits of ball by players until a fault is committed which results in either a loss of ball serve or award of a point score, depending on game situation. Only the serving player or team can score a point. Faults are accessed for a variety of reasons. First player or team with 21 points wins game. A match is usually decided on first 2 out of 3 game wins. Regular handball play on three-wall and four-wall type courts permits ball play on said number of walls plus additional play on ceiling of latter type court. Since the newly invented game utilizes paired tethered balls in place of the one small rubber ball for game play, only the front wall and the horizontal players area of any type court are considered suitable for the novel game play due to the added degree of difficulty of play imposed by the tethered balls.
Paired tethered balls have been utilized in the past for a variety of games and toys. Relevant prior art includes U.S. Pat. No. 610,600 in which two hollow balls with squared holes therein are connected by string with handle in middle to facilitate swinging of balls in opposite directions and creation of sound effects; U.S. Pat. No. 612,173 in which two balls are connected by an elastic strip, whereby balls are tossed onehandedly, one after the other, with the elasticity of the strip returning balls to hand; U.S. Pat. No. 672,099 in which two balls are connected by an elastic or non-elastic cord which in turn is passed through an eyelet of a ring which is placed on a finger of the user. One ball is thrown from the user's hand and the other ball is drawn to the hand by counterweight effect, thus creating a continuous type ball movement play; U.S. Pat. No. 2,125,815 in which paired balls are formed by two pairs of hemispheres with holes and slots therein, connected by cord, with handle in middle. Device is twirled to create visual and sound effects; U.S. Pat. No. 3,095,867 in which two balls are connected by a line with a frictionally engageable member in middle of line. Said member is engaged to receptive member on end of a projector whip. Balls are cast by crack of whip for amusement. U.S. Pat. No. 3,049,352 in which two small balls are connected by a cord of relatively short length to form a game device which is thrown and caught by the players with a special ended type stick; U.S. Pat. No. 3,717,348 in which two balls are connected by an elastic connector which has a small gripping tab in middle. Ball set represents a missile which is thrown by hand at various types of branched stick targets for point scores; British Pat. No. 347,953 in which two balls connected by a long cord are used as a projectile for throwing with hand from a twirling motion in attempt to entwine tethered balls on a pole for point score; Canadian Pat. No. 635,367 in which two small rubber balls connected by a relatively short cord are used as a projectile to be thrown and caught by a special pronged stick in game play. Probably, the most relevant patents cited above are U.S. Pat. No. 672,099 and British Pat. No. 347,953. In the former patent, the balls can be of rubber but no mention is made of ball size, weight, or rebound characteristics. Also, no mention is made of any specific length of ball connecting cord, although as indicated on drawing, the cord length is well beyond that considered for tethered balls of current invention. About the same can be said for the British patent. Balls are soft rubber with no ball weight or rebound characteristics mentioned, but according to scale shown on drawing, balls are about 4 inches (10.2 cms) in diameter, and cord length is about 36 inches (83.8 cms), which makes both measurements well beyond those considered for tethered balls of current invention. In all cited prior art patents, no tethered balls are intended for convenient ambidextrous handling in toss, catch, and rebound play. Furthermore, use of a swivel in connecting cord of tethered ball to prevent undesirable twisting of cord was not considered in any cited prior art, but is considered in current invention.